With their performances last season, the Class of 2011's student-athletes made the jump from high school to college athletics seem easy.
The group was one of Tufts' most accomplished freshman classes in recent memory, racking up 12 All-NESCAC selections across nine different sports. Four newly risen sophomores — Julia Browne (tennis), Colleen Hart (basketball), Chase Rose (baseball) and Izzie Santone (softball) — garnered conference Rookie of the Year nods, with Browne and Hart also adding regional honors to their awards hauls.
But as even this talented class can attest, the transition to the college ranks — and to one of the premier conferences in Div. III — isn't always seamless.
For the most highly-touted freshman athletes, the challenges begin right from day one, when they are forced to put their high school careers in the past and prove themselves all over again against stiffer competition. Santone, a First Team All-State selection out of Connecticut her senior year of high school, knew her credentials wouldn't guarantee success at the collegiate level.
"I didn't even think about my senior year because it's so different playing in college as opposed to high school," she said. "I sort of just forgot about the past and tried to start over … It was fun to try to prove myself to everyone, but at the same time, it was really difficult."
The NESCAC, which produced nine Div. III national champions during the 2007-08 season, is especially challenging for freshman athletes. With so many elite teams all packed into the schedule, newcomers to the conference have to deal with a level of competitiveness.
"In high school, you have a lot of matches where the competition is very scattered, but in the NESCAC, there's never an easy match," Browne said. "It doesn't really matter who's playing in what spot; everything's competitive."
At institutions like Tufts and other schools in the NESCAC where academics take precedence over athletics, however, adjusting to the college game requires more than just getting used to the stiff opposition. In between practices, road trips and tournaments, student-athletes also have to find time to tackle a heavy class schedule, and freshmen unaccustomed to the rigors of a college workload find that it often makes for a difficult juggling act.
"When you get to finals, it's very clear that school comes first and that you have to do well with your grades before you succeed on the field," Rose said. "It's tough to balance your time, but that's one of the things you need to do if you're going to play."
For help dealing with these challenges, freshman athletes are able to rely on the guidance of their coaches, many of whom know full well how best to ease their first-year players into the fold. A prime example is Rose's skipper, 25-year coaching veteran John Casey, who played at Tufts himself and recently coached two of his sons — Brian (LA '07), now a graduate student at Tufts, and senior Kevin — through similar transitions to the Hill.
"As soon as you get there, he's the guy you go to," Rose said. "He helps you pick your classes, and he has a baseball player help you move in as soon as you get there. It's really nice to have that when you come to a whole new school and you don't know anybody. You have a coach who's willing to help you with anything and a whole team that's there for you."
Hart, who started at point guard for the women's basketball team last season, had the added benefit of being part of a veteran-laden starting five that featured two juniors and two seniors. While perhaps daunting at first, the presence of so many upperclassmen helped deflect much of the pressure off of Hart, who was asked to step into the Jumbos' lineup from day one.
"They were really good about helping me, as well as the other freshmen, adjust," she said. "We were all a little quiet, not as vocal in the beginning, and they helped us be more comfortable in all facets of the game. They made it so that the actual playing wasn't as stressful and foreign."
But freshman athletes' most valuable resources might be their first-year teammates, who experience the same adjustments and changes that accompany the move to college. During the tennis team's fall season, Browne played on a young squad with four other freshmen, and by the time spring rolled around, she was paired in doubles almost exclusively with classmate Edwina Stewart.
"All of us freshmen stuck together when we had to balance getting work done at night with needing some sleep in order to function well for early-morning practices," Browne said. "Especially my doubles partner Edwina, we became best friends through tennis, and then we really got to experience a lot of freshman year together."
With so much in place to help first-years settle into life as college athletes, the athletic experience became enriching and fun for last year's freshmen.
"I had a blast last season," Rose said. "I think it was perfect for me, because I fit right in and was able to succeed at this level right away. It's not very often that you can do that."
